Tajik Opposition Lawmaker Claims He Was Attacked, Beaten

Saidumar Husaini said he did not plan to ask local authorities for help because he thinks the attackers included local police.

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Tajik Opposition Lawmaker Claims He Was Attacked, Beaten

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A Tajik opposition lawmaker says he was beaten in the country's southeastern region of Gorno-Badakhshan.

Saidumar Husaini, deputy chairman of the opposition Islamic Renaissance Party, told reporters in Dushanbe on April 29 that about 15 unknown individuals attacked him, his son, and a member of his party's supreme council on April 28.

Husaini said he did not plan to ask local authorities for help because he thinks the attackers included local police.

But he said he will urge Interior Minister Ramazon Rakhimov to prevent attacks against other opposition politicians in the country.

Last week, the leader of the party's branch in Gorno-Badakhshan, Saodatsho Adolatov, was arrested and charged with inciting ethnic and religious hatred.

The Islamic Renaissance Party is the only Islamic party in post-Soviet Central Asia that is officially registered and represented in a parliament.

RFE/RL's Tajik Service attracts a young, influential audience with its timely, locally focused reporting. The government's continued vigor in controlling politics and media has lent further impetus to Radio Ozodi's trusted coverage.